Goat Lover Cafe

—Ace

Buck Moon over Northumberland,
by Jim Scott Photography

Yield.

Triple dog stare.

Dog knows better than to screw around with the kitten when the mama's around.

Hangry dogs need you to know it's feeding time.

Duncanthrax's nightmare job.

Cat thinks Christmas is all staged for him. When in reality, it's all for the alpacas.

Dogs hate the media too and they must be right because they're very good boys.

Kind of a rude Benny-Hill style sight gag.

River otter, being evil.

It's getting hard to find real content because people are now posting fake AI slop. It's getting annoying.

China opens a new electricity plant.

Charge by an adult rhino.

I hope this isn't AI slop.

Federal Investigators Believed the Clintons May Have Committed a Crime in Taking Money from Russia and Then Approving the Sale of a Uranium Company to Russia, But the DOJ and FBI Let the Statute of Limitations Run

—Ace

That pattern keeps occurring, huh?

Whoops, the statute of limitations ran out again. We just lost track of the dates!

If you don't remember the case: the Clinton's worldwide bribery and graft organization, the Clinton Funding Machine, I mean the Clinton Foundation, took money from a Russian-government controlled company. Then Hillary Clinton's State Department turned around and repaid the bribe by approving the sale of a uranium company to the same Russian-government controlled company.

The statute of limitations expired during Trump's first term, but Just the News reports that the DOJ and FBI gave investigators the run-around in arguing that the statute of limitations expired at the earliest possible time, rather than looking at arguments that the statute ran later (due to Clinton continuing the conspiracy).

Hillary Clinton's own Russia scandal: FBI memos detail how Uranium One probe thwarted

Running out the clock: The FBI and DOJ slow-walked their investigation into the Clinton Foundation and the sale of Uranium One to Russia-backed interests. As a result of roadblocks, the statute of limitations was allowed to lapse on any prosecution.

By Jerry Dunleavy

Federal investigators believed there was significant evidence worth pursuing related to possible criminality involving the Clinton Foundation and the State Department's approval of the sale of Uranium One to Russian state-owned interests, but delays by the Justice Department and FBI led the inquiry to whither and die because of statute of limitations issues.

The sale of the Canada-based Uranium One to the Russian state-owned Rosatom was the focus of great controversy and scrutiny from Republicans and others who argued that then-Secretary of State Clinton helped approve the deal and that the Clinton Foundation may have stood to benefit from it.

Career agents and line prosecutors at the FBI and DOJ also believed the saga may have been a criminal one, but orders from DOJ leaders such as then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe slow-walked and stonewalled the inquiry to the point where it could no longer be pursued.

FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors in Little Rock, Arkansas and elsewhere closely scrutinized the scandal -- but were largely blocked from serious investigative action due to leadership delays and, following those delays, arguments that the statute of limitations had run out.

Jonathan Ross, then the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, argued in a 2018 email that "there is no legal barrier in continuing the present investigation" into the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One. Ross has served as U.S. Attorney in Arkansas since 2022, including during Trump's second term.

Then-U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland of Arkansas also sent a 2018 email to then-U.S. Attorney John Huber of Utah, largely summarizing Ross's arguments, stressing that "we do not believe the prosecution is time-barred by a statute of limitations" in part "because payments from the subjects of the investigation to the Foundation were made continuously from 2007 through 2014."

A newly-declassified internal FBI investigative timeline also argued that claims that the statute of limitations had run out on the Uranium One inquiry "failed to include whether Acts of Concealment such as deleting emails in 2015 and making additional statements and representations about those deletions would have extended the statute of limitations" and also pointed to possible federal criminal statutes such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, major fraud against the United States, and bank fraud.

The timeline also argued that 18 U.S. Code § 3287 -- Wartime Suspension of Statute of Limitations Act -- should have extended the statute of limitations for this alleged criminality as well.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, made the records produced to him by FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi available to Just the News this past weekend.

Looks like they gave Trump the run-around, and then he dropped the ball. In fairness to Trump -- the entire Deep State had gotten his chosen AG to step down and the DOJ was being run by a Deep State plant, Ron Rosenstein. Maybe this was the whole point of the RussiaGate op, tying Trump down while the statute of limitations ran.

NYPost: Candace Owens Leaves a Trail of Enemies, and Lawsuits, Everywhere She Goes

—Ace

This barely scratches the surface.

Candace Owens' attacks on Erika Kirk are fueled by her own jealousy and bitterness at being pushed out of Turning Point USA, sources claim to The Post.

The independent broadcaster, 36, described as "sadistic and dangerous" by insiders, didn't hold back from spreading baseless conspiracy theories about the grieving widow and her husband, activist Charlie Kirk, after he was assassinated on Sept. 10.

For those who have crossed her path, Owens' disregard for the truth, pursuit of attention and reckless behavior are all calculated.

Those who spoke to The Post claim Owens was loathed by staff when she worked at the Daily Wire, guests on her podcast doubt she believes her own lies and her pattern of inflammatory behavior can be traced all the way back to high school.

"Everything she is doing right now is because she wants to destroy Charlie's legacy and the organization he built because he threw her out of TPUSA," alleged one insider.

Influential voices on the right have become more and more conspiratorial in recent years -- and now, the paranoia is being wielded against its own: Erika Kirk in the wake of her husband Charlie's assassination.

For those of you who say "what does it matter," 1, she's trying to destroy the most effective youth-outreach conservative activist group because they fired her grifter ass, and 2, we're all being branded as insane conspiracy-theorist Nazi Jew-haters because we're trying to make friends with these people instead of just casting them out.

I'm so tired of hearing "Why don't you just stop talking about it." I'll offer you a deal: You start posting in Candace Owens' comments asking her to stop accusing Erika Kirk of murdering her husband. Report back to me what she says. If she stops, then I'll stop talking about her. Deal?

I'm so tired of these claims that criticism of Nazis like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens who are attempting -- successfully -- to destroy the right if out-of-line while they're allowed to continue demolishing everything good and true on the right.

Why is it that only Carlson's and Owens' critics have to duty to be silent for the sake of Unity? (Unity with Nazis, by the way.) Why don't they have a similar duty?

If you're a Nazi and you like this Nazi propaganda, don't be a coward, just say so. Stop with this bullshit that critics of Owens and Carlson have to remain silent while they're free to drop defamation after defamation on all of their many, many enemies on the right.

Owens worked for TPUSA as a communications director between 2017 and 2019.

"Charlie pushed her out because she was going a little bit nuts," a source close to TPUSA brass claimed to The Post, but noted "he would still text her to keep the friendship going."

False. She started off nuts. This deranged black Nazi has been a degenerate narcissist fame-chaser since high school.

She's also always been very litigious:

She is a graduate of Stamford High School in Connecticut.[7] In 2007, while a 17-year-old senior at Stamford High School, Owens received three racist death threat voicemail messages, totaling two minutes, from a group of white male classmates which included the son of then-mayor and future Democratic governor Dannel Malloy.[8][9][10][11] Joshua Starr, the city's superintendent of schools, listened to the voicemail messages and said that they were "horrendous".[11] Owens's family sued the Stamford Board of Education in federal court, alleging that the city did not protect her rights, resulting in a $37,500 settlement in January 2008.[7][12]

I'm just going to say it: I don't believe those were real. If she can make snap conclusions based on who she likes and who she doesn't like, then so can I. Charges were dropped against the accused kids.

After Charlie started dating Erika in 2018, the source added: "[Owens] was feeling usurped. Who is this interloper, who knew nothing, taking over?" The source claimed.

"She wasn't invited to Charlie's [2021] wedding. That was really telling."

Owens and Erika agreed on a truce over the weekend and were set to meet Monday to hash out their differences.

Conspiracies that Owens has spread about Charlie's murder include the involvement of Israeli Mossad agents, the US military, Egyptian planes and the French government -- despite it having occurred in public and been captured on video. The alleged assassin is in custody awaiting trial.

...

StopAntisemitism named Owens "Antisemite of the Year" in 2024, citing her statement that Judaism is a "pedophile-centric religion that believes in demons [and] child sacrifice," and spreading untrue conspiracies such as Israel was involved in 9/11 and a secret group of Jews in Hollywood was involved in the death of Michael Jackson.

Owen has also promoted the "blood libel" conspiracy, that Jewish people murder Christians to use their blood in ceremonies.

...

Owens is also facing a huge reckoning in court when Bridgette Macron's defamation lawsuit against her comes to trial, expected next year.

Macron filed a 220-page lawsuit in July 2025 alleging 22 counts of defamation and a "campaign of global humiliation" for financial gain against her.

The lawsuit claims Owens continued to repeat false allegations that the French first lady was born a man even after her attorneys were provided with extensive documentation -- including birth records, childhood photos and pregnancy records from her three children -- all demonstrating Macron was born female.

...

"She's about to be in serious financial difficulty" if the Macrons succeed in their lawsuit, a source claimed to The Post.

"She really is on the line for a huge sum of money. I think she probably realizes that now."

...

Sources said if Lord Farmer cuts off his son, George Farmer, and Owens, they would face further financial complications.

A source who knows the family said George "has never had a real job" and is mostly known for his lackluster attempt to launch a right-wing Twitter alternative called Parler, which is still active, but has a dwindling number of users.

Owens and her husband now live in Nashville, where she broadcasts her show, which is very lucrative, according to Fortune magazine, which estimated this month her company "generates up to $10 million" a year.

That's a large turnaround from her more humble beginnings in Connecticut. There, in 2017, she owed six months in back rent on her $3,500-a-month, two-bedroom luxury apartment in Stamford.

Faced with eviction, she instead filed a lawsuit against her landlord, Three Harbor Point Square, claiming the apartment had mold and seeking $15,000 in damages for "systemic yeast infections," "impacted cerumen [earwax] in the left ear," and "emotional distress."

She lost the case and instead had to pay the landlord $20,000 in damages and legal expenses.

...

After leaving TPUSA, Owens moved on to the Daily Wire, and insiders claim she grated with other people who worked there from the start.

One source said that in her first week, she threw her car keys at a producer and expected them to park her car. She is also said to have expected others to conduct her research, demanded a huge studio to film in and attempted to use the company's publicity arm to push herself, questioning why she hadn't been placed on the cover of People magazine.

"She was one of the worst people I've ever worked with," said one source.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Blasts Tim Walz, Now Accusing Him of Turning a Blind Eye to Somalis Stealing Student Aid By Registering as "Ghost Students" Who Don't Attend School and Don't Even Exist

—Ace

Last time it turned out that he was enabling mass fraud of welfare money by Somali pirates (and Democrat voters, legal or not), Walz claimed that if he had any fault, it was just of being too "generous" during covid. He wanted to protect people's health, you know.

What's the excuse for allowing fraud on an industrial scale in student aid?

Via Twitchy, McMahon explained the scam to the retard allowing it:

A "ghost student" is a fraudulent application or enrollment created by scammers using fake or stolen identities to steal financial aid and other resources from colleges and universities. The "students" never actually attend classes, or use AI to simulate minimal engagement, before disappearing with the funds.

Emails: FBI Agents Repeatedly Warned Biden's DOJ That There Was No Probable Cause for the Mar-a-Lago Raid

—Ace

Weird how we never heard warnings about the need for the DOJ to be independent of the president when Biden's thugs were raiding his rival's home.

Just the News:

The FBI in summer 2022 raised repeated objections to raiding Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, warning agents did not believe the Biden Justice Department had enough evidence to establish "probable cause" that the then-former president had broken the law in handling classified documents, according to bombshell memos turned over Tuesday to Congress.

"WFO [FBI's Washington Field Office] has conducted approximately [Redacted] interviews related to this matter. Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents," a June 1, 2022 FBI memo declared. "From the interviews, WFO has gathered information suggesting that there may be additional boxes (presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA [National Archives] in January) at Mar-a-Lago."

"WFO has been drafting a Search Warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated. DOJ CES [Counterintelligence and Export Control Section] opines, however, that the SWs [search warrants] meet the probable cause standard," that memo read.

The independent straight-shooters of the FBI found no probable cause, but Biden's political leadership of the DOJ found there was.

I'm sure Jake Tapper will get right on this.

Over a month later, FBI agents raised more concerns, including about the legality of searching Trump's personal residence at the Mar-a-Lago residence, the memos show.

"DOJ has inquired as to an Ops Plan for a SW of MAL [Mar-a-Lago]. and that we already had an Ops Plan in place that will [sic] can be quickly updated between FBI/MM [Miami Field Office] and FBI/WF [Washington Field Office]," a redacted FBI agent in the nation's capital wrote in a July 12, 2022 email. "However, WF-[Redacted] does not believe we have PC for the 45 Office or the bedroom due to recency and issues of boxes versus classified information. Therefore, as Mv

Just the News obtained a copy of the memos after Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel declassified them and turned them over to Congress.

"Received shocking new docs 2day from DOJ & FBI showing FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres[ident] Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. "Based on the records, Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice."

The emails were turned over to the Senate and House Judiciary committees, ahead of a planned deposition Wednesday from ex-special prosecutor Jack Smith, who inherited the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case just months after the August 2022 raid of Trump's home that rocked the political world ahead of the 2024 election.

It has long been rumored that some FBI agents disagreed with the decision to raid Trump's home to look for classified documents at the request of the National Archives.

But the declassified emails chronicle the specific concerns that DOJ under President Joe Biden had not met the standard for a search warrant, but proceeded anyway, officials said.

Jay Bratt, at the time the chief of the DOJ's CES and a future member of future special counsel Jack Smith's team, was key in pushing for the Mar-a-Lago raid. An FBI official sent an email on June 2, 2022 stating that "we learned from Jay Bratt that he did not intend to 'negotiate' with [Trump lawyer Evan] Corcoran, or have any further discussions with him."

Brett Reynolds, a trial attorney at CES, appeared to send a draft of a search warrant on July 8, 2022. Michael Thacker, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, appeared to send another draft version of a search warrant on July 13, 2022.

"We haven't generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft. Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified on site, at what point is it fair to table this? It is time consuming for the team, and not productive if there are no new facts supporting PC?" an FBI official wrote in a July 13, 2022 email.

"As everyone is tracking, WFO does not believe (and has articulated to DOJ CES) that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago," an FBI official wrote in another email dated July 20, 2022.

Put them in prison. G-pop.

Trump Files Lawsuit Against BBC for Defamatory J6 Edit

—Ace

Another $10 billion lawsuit.

The odds of winning in court, with a left-wing anti-American judge and left-wing anti-American, are zero, unfortunately.

Note that all left-wingers are anti-patriots who despise their country... but hate America more, and turn into jingoistic nationalists if the Great Satan America is in a conflict with their countries.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said early Tuesday it plans to fight back against President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit.

The BBC has come under intense scrutiny over a 2024 "Panorama" documentary about Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, speech delivered before the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Critics claim the documentary was misleading because it omitted Trump's call for supporters to protest peacefully.

Trump sued the BBC on Monday for both defamation and for a violation of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for $5 billion apiece, seeking $10 billion total. The suit, filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court, was filed in a personal capacity and names BBC and BBC Studios Productions as defendants. While ABC and CBS have both settled with Trump in recent memory, the BBC plans to fight the case.

"As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings," a BBC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Trump's legal team, made up of attorneys Alejandro Brito, Edward Paltzik and Daniel Epstein, believes the British outlet serves a liberal political agenda.

"The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election. The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda. President Trump's powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing," a spokesperson for Trump's legal team told Fox News Digital.

The BBC previously issued an apology for the erroneous edit and said it had pulled the program from its platforms, but a spokesperson for the broadcaster added, "While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim."

...

Trump's legal team suggested the defendants "timed the publication of the Panorama Documentary to be close in time to the 2024 Presidential Election" and the value of the president's "personal brand alone is reasonably estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars."

I wish there was some chance this lawsuit could prevail. But it won't.

We'll just have to take solace in the fact that the BBC is losing billions because more and more Britons are refusing to pay the mandatory "license fee" to watch the shithole state media.

BBC loses 1.1 billion pounds as more viewers cancel or evade TV licence fee

The publishing of the report comes after a number of scandals at the BBC in recent months

...

PAC chair Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown described the BBC as "an organisation under severe pressure".

Among several findings, the report said the BBC is not doing enough to enforce collection of the licence fee, which it described as unfair to the vast majority of households that do pay for a licence.

It said licence fee evasion and households not purchasing a licence together represented more than 1.1 billion pounds in potential lost income in 2024/25.

...

It also highlighted how the BBC is behind target in developing new intellectual property (IP), "which in turn will limit sustainable long-term revenue streams".

Well you had Doctor Who, but you decided to torch that IP.

The report said the BBC's mission to "serve all audiences" is at risk, with just 51% of younger people feeling the BBC reflects them, while their overall use of BBC services -- including TV, radio or online -- is significantly lower than other age groups.

One good thing about Millennials and Zellennials is their rejecting of the media. They're absolutely killing the media by tuning out.

Mark Halperin: I'm Hearing, But Can't Confirm, That the Family of Ella Cook -- Murdered by the Brown University Terrorist -- Has Been Informed That She Was the Target In the Attack

—Ace

Edited: I have rewritten the headline and the post to reflect that Halperin is only floating this as something he is "hearing," not something he can confirm. Apologies for stating it too strongly when I first posted.

Ella Cook was one of the very few conservative activists at the leftwing shithole Brown University. I saw someone do some quick calculations and figure that, based on how few conservative activists are permitted to exist at Brown, the chances of a conservative activist randomly being among the only two people killed was 0.8%.

I didn't post that because it seemed pretty suggestive, but not conclusive. And I figured that if there was any truth to it, we'd know about it soon enough.

I didn't want to be Demonic Nazi Grifter like Candace Owens.

Also, there is no math on this blog.

Ella Cook was of course beautiful and said to always offer people a bright smile.

She was the Vice President of the College Republican Club.

The Morning Rant: No American Soldiers In Eastern Europe!

—CBD

Repeat after me: "We are not the world's policeman."

To paraphrase Otto von Bismarck, "Ukraine is not worth the bones of a single United States Marine." So the idea of some security agreement with Ukraine that mirrors NATO's Article 5 is essentially allowing Ukraine into NATO without all of that pesky cooperation and standardization and massive bureaucracy and, by the way, no equal commitment from the rest of the members.

And that's exactly what they want! France and Germany don't want their soldiers to get chewed up and spit out in Donetsk. They want American soldiers to do their dirty work, so they can enjoy some strudel and a good Eiswein, or a lovely croissant and a couple of espressos while they read the news of American blood and treasure being spent once again in Europe.

Stay out of Eastern Europe's territorial disputes. They have been going on for a very long time, and most of them have been nasty wars that expose the curious lack of interest in the lives of those who are fighting them. Both Ukraine and Russia are churning through soldiers at an astounding rate, and the idea that America should provide some ironclad security in the event of another border clash is batshit crazy.

Kyiv's Top Negotiator Hails 'Real Progress' During 2nd Day of Peace Talks in Berlin

Ahead of the first meeting, Zelenskyy said on Dec. 14 that Kyiv is open to dropping its NATO ambitions in exchange for Western security guarantees.

“Thus, today, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US, Article 5-like guarantees for us from the US, and security guarantees from European colleagues, as well as other countries — Canada, Japan — are an opportunity to prevent another Russian invasion,” Zelenskyy said in a WhatsApp chat with reporters.

It remains unclear how discussions have progressed on that and other issues, such as territorial concessions, which have been key sticking points in the process.

The Kremlin said on Dec. 15 that Ukraine agreeing not to join NATO was fundamental to the peace settlement.

Russia has been exposed as a paper tiger, and the insulting argument that Ukraine is only the first step in its drive to the Channel is thoroughly debunked by the facts on the ground. Russia couldn't conquer Ukraine in three and a half years? That is a shocking realization for Putin and his generals, and no amount of obfuscation on their part will change that.

Here's my plan. Guarantee a certain level of access to American weapons, paid for in cash. Guarantee a certain level of intelligence cooperation. Guarantee support in the United Nations (remember that?) for a just peace. Continue support for Poland's military buildup, which is a wonderful buffer against any Russian intransigence.

And no American soldiers anywhere near the current battlefields or anywhere near a hypothetical future conflict. Until Western Europe decides that their culture is worth defending, what possible future benefit is there for America to enter a war that is merely a distraction from the real conflict: Islam vs. the West?

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!

Mid-Morning Art Thread

—CBD

The Seeress of Prevorst
Gabriel von Max

The Morning Report — 12/16/25

—J.J. Sefton

Good morning kids. Frankly, the less said about a certain celebrity, who along with his wife was brutally slain at the hands of their own son, the better.

Unfortunately President Trump decided to give his opinion about the victim and, despite his not being in the wrong in his opinion, was this really appropriate, or beneficial to him and the MAGA cause, when there are so many other crucial matters that need to be spoken of in the most open and frank manner possible, not offering a personal opinion about a critic in the wake of their horrific death, regardless of how accurate the opinion might be.

Meanwhile considering what unfolded in Australia a few days ago which is not a one-off but merely the latest in a long line of incidents that has spilled oceans of innocent blood for close to a millennium and a half. Vickie Paladino, a lesser-known GOP pol mostly because she is somehow holding on in deepest, darkest, bluest New York City.

Queens Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is facing a firestorm from Democrats over social media posts she made calling for the “expulsion of Muslims” in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in Australia.

Paladino took down the posts in question after facing outrage from fellow local elected officials, including Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who ripped the comments as Islamophobic.

“We’re in the midst of a global jihad the likes of which the world has never seen, and we cannot ignore it,” Paladino had written on X after 15 people were killed and 40 others injured at a celebration of the Jewish Hannukah holiday on Sunday.

“We need to take very seriously the need to begin the expulsion of Muslims from western nations, or at the very least the severe sanction of them within western borders,” the posts said, adding that action needed to be taken to prevent “another 9/11 or worse.”

. . . ncoming City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish, said she asked Paladino to take down the post, which had been removed by Monday afternoon.

“Rhetoric that vilifies an entire community only serves to inflame tensions at a moment when New Yorkers must come together to address our shared challenges,” Menin also wrote on X. “This is a time to uplift all communities, not sow divisions.”. . . “It’s been clear for a while that progressives don’t value freedom of speech, but I find it very funny that they’re so apocalyptic about this tweet, while their own social media accounts and those of their leftist allies in the DSA spew some of the most toxic, violent, and anti-American rhetoric on a daily basis,” she said in a statement. “Once again progressives are acting like the PR wing and defense attorneys for radical Islam after a wave of terror attacks, and the West is going to have to deal with this dangerous reality soon enough.”

Well Ms. Menin, have you cracked a copy of the Koran lately? In it you will see not only references to Jews as the descendants of Apes and Pigs but that in order to truly be a follower of Mohammed it is one's duty to kill all Jews and infidels who refuse to submit to Islam. this is what is preached on a daily basis and taught to Muslim children in every mosque and Madrassa on the planet.

My only criticism of Ms. Paladino is that this is the crucial context, beyond the body count in Bondi Beach and elsewhere, that undergirds her very spot on assertion. Islam and its adherents are incompatible with the free and open and dare I say it "diverse" society that Leftists are constantly yammering on about. Of course, they themselves do not want diversity. They use that as the weapon to impose conformity to their will on a truly free society.

Instead of hurling the inflammatory call for expulsion of Muslims, justified though it is, the more effective rhetorical and political weapon would be to call on all Muslims to reject the aspects/teachings/words of the Koran and Islam I tied above. Force them to publicly reject those words, and watch them squirm as they attempt to avoid doing so or otherwise lying about what their teachings are. Public shaming and exposure would be a far more effective than feeding into the Leftist meme of white supremacy/xenophobia/islamophobia etc. Seek out the so-called "Moderate" Muslims and hold some sort of public press event in which you shove this garbage in their face and make them deny it on camera.

"Do you renounce these words?" of course they can't since they are the alleged words of their false god Allah and the pedohile prophet Mohammed. Meh, the concept of Taqqiya, gives them the out they need I guess. But Still. Words do matter but more crucially its what words you use and how you use them in order to get the points across to the public at large.

It's why Vickie Paladino and President Trump need to have someone like a Robert Spencer as an adviser/coach in this issue. Both of them for sure understand what we all do, in the self-evident truth that not all societies are equal and that some indeed are not only inferior but dangerously toxic.

In a not unrelated story, we have the continuation of the now openly and getting bloodier and more violent by the day, insurrection against We the People:

Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec spoke with The Post Millennial's Editor-at-Large Andy Ngo on Monday about recent federal terrorism cases involving far-left extremists, warning that leftist political group violence is escalating and often ignored by the public and downplayed by the media. Posobiec framed the discussion by pointing to recent prosecutions and prior warnings raised during the Trump administration roundtable on far-left violence. “This is another example, Andy, I think, that in this country — and you and I, of course, both participated in President Trump’s roundtable on far-left violence — the left is getting more violent, aren’t they?” Posobiec asked.

Ngo responded by citing multiple recent federal convictions tied to extremist activity. “This allegation from the federal government," Ngo said, referring to the foiled terror attack planned by the Turtle Island Liberation Front, "comes on the heels of at least seven people in Texas being federally convicted for providing material support for terrorists in an Antifa shooting ambush attack that happened on an ICE facility early this year,” Ngo said. He added that in California, “there was another Antifa associate in the Berkeley area who was convicted and sentenced to 19 years for a number of bombings that he carried out on the Cal campus and around it.”

When the institutional Left eventually does finally link up with the organized Islamic terrorists no doubt in our midst, and they probably already have, shit is going to get more real than we had thought possible. It is a nightmare scenario in the making. Plus with the institutional corruption in government, media, the private sector and perhaps at some level in our military, Yikes. I mean Mark Kelly et al were actively fomenting mutiny in the ranks. I don't want to contemplate the consequences to us if his and his evil co-conspirators' poisonous entreaties to evil are taken to heart by even a fraction of our troops. . .

This is bloody revolution, period. Unless the conspirators as well as and most especially their political and financial backers are all rounded up and then publicly executed, we have failed. The rule of law, as we have seen with Donald Trump, the J-6 political prisoners and others is now a farce. The rubicon has been crossed. We cannot restore or begin to restore our society unless the cancer within is excised with extreme prejudice.

It's not pretty, but there it is. I call it as I see it, my friends.

Have a good day.

And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
• “We’re in the midst of a global jihad the likes of which the world has never seen, and we cannot ignore it,” Paladino had written on X after 15 people were killed and 40 others injured at a celebration of the Jewish Hannukah holiday on Sunday.
  NYC GOP Councilwoman Vickie Paladino faces firestorm after calling for ‘expulsion of Muslims’ in light of Bondi Beach terrorist attack

• The long march through the institutions: From Trotskyist entryism to civilizational conquest of Europe by the Muslim Brotherhood.
  The Patient Strategy of Entryism

  
  

• Timing is everything, I guess - JJS!
  Obamas planned to meet with Rob Reiner and wife the night couple was killed

Daily Tech News 16 December 2025

—Pixy Misa

• Merriam Webster names "slop" the word of the year. (Tech Crunch)
  
  Good work, dictionary. Have a cookie.

Overnight Open Thread [12/15/2025]

—CBD

[Sorry the ONT is so early today...]

Topographic prominence is different than height, and Mt. McKinley is the clear winner in America. Then comes Mauna Kea, which didn't surprise me at all (I thought it was going to be #1), then Mt. Rainier in Washington, although it is rapidly crumbling into insignificance because it no longer has a spine. Then come a bunch of Alaskan peaks nobody has ever heard of, then my personal favorite slides in at #9: Mount Whitney! Mt. Shasta is #11, which is also in my favorites list, mostly because you can see it from miles and miles away. Hell, you can see it from Highway 5!

The press is a gang of cruel faggots. Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits -- a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.

Fewer men would have turned to stone if Medusa had bigger boobs.

******

I will be treble-sinewed, -hearted, -breathed,
And fight maliciously. For when mine hours
Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives
Of me for jests; but now I'll set my teeth
And send to darkness all that stop me.

-- William Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra, Act 3, Scene 13

This should be the West's mantra. We are in a war for the survival of our culture, and we are losing, even before most of us know that we are in a fight!

Conservatism is, shallowly, the conserving of the old order. It has failed, and our new goal should be a return to the old order of things. And if that means sending frigates to the Barbary Coast, bombers to Iran, and dispatching Polish heavy cavalry to save the day, well, it's not such a bad idea. But we should not do it alone, and if that means that Western Europe surrenders to the hordes, then so be it. If they will not fight for their own existence, we shouldn't either.

******
Stupid, and funny!
******

This made me laugh. How true it is. I love humor that has more than one meaning too!

******

What the hell is this? And why are children cursing so much funnier than when adults do it? Sure, it's dubbed (I assume) but it still gave me a chuckle, and only Ebenezer Scrooge wouldn't laugh. So...Are YOU Ebenezer Scrooge?

******
The formerly "Great" Britain.

You need to watch this pic.twitter.com/Psxt7SMcwH

— Patrick Christys (@PatrickChristys) December 13, 2025

****** Wishful Thinking, by Tris Munsick & The Innocents.

Who? It's classic country, recommended by commenter "Pete Bog," whose musical taste is better than his Paella-making technique.

***
And as long as we are slumming with Pete Bog's musical picks, how about Gabriel the Bull, doing Guardian Angels.

Two bands I have never heard of, but as my BiL in the business tells me, there are tons of absolutely fantastic bands that have not been, and probably never will be discovered.

******
For f*k's sake: Study reveals which English-speaking countries use the f-word the most -- and who has more fun doing so

Of course, the use of dirty words didn’t just differ between nations. According to the study, studies show people drop f-bombs more on social media than blogs and other mediums, especially — and perhaps contrary to popular belief — when conversing with acquaintances rather than close friends.

In fact, swearing was exceedingly rare in circles of fewer than 15 people, no matter how well they knew each other.

I think this study is a mass of bullshit, and nothing more than a make-work project for some under-utilized graduate students who are panicking that they might actually have to work some day.

Besides, they never answered the basic question: Is it "For fuck's sake," or "for fucks' sake?"

Inquiring minds want to know!

******

******
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Close it up

Pupper Pizza Cafe

—Ace

by Garrick

Cat believes Christmas is for cats. But cats believe that about everything.

Pigs on the run.

Bear discovers that Cats are asshoe.

Sharing lunch with a donkey.

Cruising the strip.

Bear cub plays at the beach.

Sharing is for saps.

Massaging the hamster, if you know what I mean.

Final gunfight of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, as interpreted by cats.

Quick Hits

—Ace

Candace Owens proves that terrorism works. She's bullied Erika Kirk into a private meeting, in which Candace Owens' demonic evil narcissism won't be exposed to the public, and about which Owens can say whatever she likes.

Erika Kirk @MrsErikaKirk

Candace Owens and I are meeting for a private, in-person discussion on Monday, December 15. @RealCandaceO and I have agreed that public discussions, livestreams, and tweets are on hold until after this meeting. I look forward to a productive conversation. Thank you.
8:01 PM · Dec 14, 2025

Frank McCormick | Educator @CBHeresy

Here is how this will play out:

1. They will come to an agreement; one that Candace will not honor, but Erika will be temporarily relieved.

2. Candace will say both she and Erika had a productive conversation and that they "both want justice for Charlie"-- immediately elevating herself to Erika's level.

3. Candace will do a brief pause of her show-- entirely for optics.

4. Eventually she will come back and claim that she has received new information she cannot ignore.

5. When Candace returns to her "investigation," she will argue she is fulfilling the promise she made to Erika during the private conversation to help her seek justice for Charlie.

Everything she does after will be framed as the fulfillment of an agreement- which she will purposefully be vague about under the auspices of "privacy"- she will claim to have made with Erika.

And what will she do if Erika pushes back after this?

A tactic that all of the Nazis are deploying is claiming that they were all great friends with Charlie Kirk and know how much he secretly hated the Jews. After they spent years publicly attacking him, they claim that he was a friend that shared with them his secret Nazi leanings. Now that he's not around to contradict him.

Meanwhile, the diseased pervert Milo is claiming Charlie Kirk paid the "Faggot" -- Tyler Robinson -- to kill him to get away from Erika Kirk.

Yes, this is a "joke," not a serious assertion. (I guess.) But if this "joke" proves popular among the Nazis, I'm pretty sure Milo will endorse it as a serious theory for clicks.

Tucker Carlson had on Milo last week, by the way.

Judge Boasberg has been delayed in his lawless attempt to hold Trump officials in "contempt" for out-of-courtroom behavior.

A panel of judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has delayed proceedings in U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's contempt inquiry until 2026, instructing the litigants to opine on the authority of the court to pursue contempt at all.

Boasberg has overseen a challenge involving the Trump administration's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Boasberg had planned contempt hearings this week, though the Department of Justice appealed to the upper court and even moved to boot him from the case altogether.

In the Monday order, the judges set a Jan. 5, 2026 deadline for responses addressing the question of the court's authority to pursue so-called "indirect contempt."

The matter of the actual deportations has already reached the Supreme Court, which permitted the administration to invoke the Alien Enemies Act.

Australian PM: In Aftermath of Two ISIS-Connected Pakistanis Shooting Up Hannukah Celebration, We Now Turn to the Real Threat, "Right Wing Extremist Groups" and Guns In the Hands of Native Australians

—Ace

Of course.

The only problematic thing about the latest Muslim slaughter of non-Muslims is the claim that Muslim violence will lead to anti-Muslim backlash.

Many point out that while Australia banned a tennis player from entering the country -- because he wouldn't take the clot shot -- they let in Known Wolf terrorists in no problem.

Not an immediate threat, Australian "anti-terror" police decided.

@emilykschrader

As more information is revealed about the terrorists, the police have confirmed that Naveed was known to the Australian security services for his connections to ISIS, but they did not believe he posed an immediate threat. Reports indicate he and his father were radicalized at their mosque, the Al-Murad Islamic center in Sydney. The police also found explosives in their vehicle and an ISIS flag.

Antifa-Style Pro-Palestinian Terrorist Group Arrested, Stopped from Planned New Years Even Attacks in LA

—Ace

Attorney General Pamela Bondi @AGPamBondi

After an intense investigation, the Department of Justice, working with our @FBI
, prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California (Orange County and Los Angeles).

The Turtle Island Liberation Front--a far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group--was preparing to conduct a series of bombings against multiple targets in California beginning on New Year's Eve. The group also planned to target ICE agents and vehicles.

This was an incredible effort by our U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the @FBI
to ensure Americans can live in peace. We will continue to pursue these terror groups and bring them to justice.

Gunther Eagleman @GuntherEagleman

🚨 BREAKING: FBI just held a press conference announcing they FOILED a massive New Year's Eve terror bombing plot in Southern California by far-left radicals!

The four arrested "Turtle Island Liberation Front" (TILF) members -- all from the LA area:

- Audrey Caroll, 30 (leader who organized the even more extreme "Order of the Black Lotus" faction)
- Zachary Aaron Page, 32
- Donte Gaffield, 24
- Tina Le, 41

They were caught red-handed in the Mojave Desert last Friday unloading bomb-making materials to assemble and test IEDs.

Plot details from the complaint:

- Planned to bomb 5+ locations in LA/Orange County on NYE
- Explicitly called it a "terrorist act"
- Follow-up attacks targeting ICE agents/vehicles with pipe bombs to "take some of them out and scare the rest"
- Found "Death to America," "Long live Turtle Island and Palestine," and "Death to ICE" posters in their homes

The media will probably bury this because it's not the "narrative" they want... but THIS is domestic FAR LEFT terrorism.

The NY Post:

FBI stops planned New Year's Eve Los Angeles bombing by 'anti-capitalist,' anti-ICE terror cell

WASHINGTON -- The FBI arrested five members of an "anti-capitalist, anti-government" extremist group on Friday and charged them with an alleged plot to carry out coordinated bombings in and around Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, according to officials and a criminal complaint.

The "credible, imminent terrorist threat" to five unidentified companies' logistics centers in Southern California came from radical members of an offshoot of the left-wing Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), FBI Director Kash Patel and other law enforcement officials revealed Monday.

The splinter group called themselves the Order of the Black Lotus and passed along an "eight-page, handwritten document titled 'OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN'" that laid out the bombing plot to a confidential FBI source, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in Los Angeles federal court.

Four of the suspects were collared in Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, where they were captured on video attempting to test improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Los Angeles first assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli told reporters at a news conference.

The arrests were first reported by Fox News.

The quartet -- Audrey Ilene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41 -- have been charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device. A fifth unidentified suspect was arrested in New Orleans while planning a separate attack.

Carroll and Page led the group and convened a private Signal chat where they used codenames, with Carroll identified as "Asiginaak," Page identified as "Ash Kerrigan" or "cthulu's daughter," Gaffield as "Nomad" and Lai as "Kickwhere."

The group had begun assembling the "complex pipe bombs" with "homemade gunpowder" in the desert when FBI agents arrested them on Dec. 12.

"Carroll's bomb plot was explicit," Essayli said. "It included step-by step instructions to build IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, and listed multiple targets across Orange County and Los Angeles. Carroll also made clear her desires. She said, 'What we are doing will be considered a terrorist act.'"

The sophisticated criminal scheme involved each participant wearing so-called "BlacBloc" clothing, using burner phones, wearing gloves, concealing their hair, paying for black powder pipe bomb materials in cash and even "placing a small pebble in a shoe to alter natural gait to obfuscate their identification," the complaint stated.

House Report: DC Police Chief Demanded Cops Falisify Crime Records to Cook the Stats "By Any Means Necessary"

—Ace

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh

🚨 BREAKING: A JAW-DROPPING report from the House just confirmed the left-wing D.C. police chief FALSIFIED crime statistics, "cooking the books" to make the city seem MUCH safer than it was.

- Chief Smith PUNISHED and RETLIATED if they tried to report rising crime data, BERATING them
- Chief Pam Smith PRESSURED commanders to lower crime stats "by any means necessary"
- Chief Smith pushed for lesser-pursued charges EVEN for serious crimes
- Required certain crimes to be reviewed by her office

WOW.

Charles Grassley: New Evidence Proves Obama Stopped FBI Agents from Investigating the Clinton Foundation

—Ace

Paul Sperry
@paulsperry_

2h

BREAKING: Just-declassified FBI docs reveal that Andrew McCabe throttled the investigation of the Clinton Foundation in 2016, denying field agents evidence from Weiner laptop. HQ warned: "[Avoid creating] any impression we are investigating the Clinton Foundation or the Clintons"

Bruce Forman

@Brucenewsreview

5h

NEW🚨: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released a detailed FBI investigative timeline to Just the News this weekend, documenting repeated political obstructions faced by agents probing potential pay-to-play corruption in Hillary Clinton's family foundation from 2016 through early 2020.

The newly disclosed records, provided by FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, reveal agents' frustrations with barriers from FBI headquarters and the Justice Department, including orders from then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to halt overt steps without his approval and demands from then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to "shut it down."

The timeline highlights early 2016 directives limiting investigations across New York, Little Rock, and Washington field offices, despite evidence of foreign donations potentially influencing State Department actions during Clinton's tenure.

It extends beyond a shorter 2017 timeline, showing post-election delays, statute of limitations concerns raised by DOJ officials, and reluctance from U.S. attorneys to pursue leads, even after Trump administration encouragement.

Grassley stated: "The mainstream media smeared any investigation into Hillary Clinton as unfounded nonsense, but in reality, line agents and federal prosecutors seeking to follow up on legitimate leads were sidelined by partisan leadership looking to save Clinton's reputation. That's a night-and-day departure from how the Biden Justice Department handled the Arctic Frost investigation against President Trump."

The documents underscore agents' reports of being told "NO" by FBI HQ when attempting to expand probes, including interviews with Clinton aides like Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, which were never authorized.

Special Counsel John Durham previously contrasted this cautious approach with the rapid full investigation into Trump's campaign, noting the Clinton inquiries were hampered despite predication based on source reporting of foreign contributions for favorable treatment.

Grassley's report here.

Department of Justice (DOJ) records provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) offer a behind-the-scenes look at how top leadership during the Obama-Biden administration repeatedly interfered to prevent DOJ prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents from investigating the Clinton Foundation's financial dealings.

"The mainstream media smeared any investigation into Hillary Clinton as unfounded nonsense, but in reality, line agents and federal prosecutors seeking to follow up on legitimate leads were sidelined by partisan leadership looking to save Clinton's reputation. That's a night-and-day departure from how the Biden Justice Department handled the Arctic Frost investigation against President Trump," Grassley said. "For too long, our Justice Department has chosen winners and losers instead of enforcing the law without regard to power, party or privilege. That must never happen again. I thank Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel for turning over these records, so the American people finally know how their Justice Department failed in the Clinton investigations."

The records, including internal emails and an investigatory timeline, were provided to Grassley in response to his oversight request and whistleblower allegations. Per the records:

On July 20, 2016--111 days before the 2016 election--an agent with the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division ordered that, "based on the sensitivities surrounding the Clinton Foundation," agents were prohibited from issuing subpoenas, conducting interviews or sharing information related to the case with other offices so as to avoid "[creating] any impression we are investigating the Clinton Foundation or the Clintons."

In November 2016, FBI Headquarters, while under the leadership of then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, stepped in to block the Clinton Foundation investigative team from accessing potentially incriminating evidence located on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the husband of Hillary Clinton's political aide, Huma Abedin. McCabe, among others, recommended the information instead be routed to the FBI's "Midyear" investigative team.

After the investigation was reopened in 2017, Main Justice holdovers from the previous administration allegedly provided prosecutors in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas (EDAR) with documents that omitted information regarding DOJ and FBI leadership's interference. Additional requests the EDAR made to the FBI in 2018 "ruffled some feathers" and didn't result in a response.

An EDAR prosecutor concluded "there appear to be conflicts of interest for the leadership [at Main Justice, including the Public Integrity Section,] related to the 2016 [Clinton] investigations that undermine any confidence we might normally have in looking to them for assistance."

Rob Reiner's Mentally-Ill Son Arrested for Double Murder, Held on $4 Million Bail

—Ace

As I'm sure you know, director/actor Rob Reiner and his wife were stabbed to death in their LA home.

Police questioned Reiner's son Nick, who reportedly had a history of mental illness.

Nick Reiner has now been arrested for the double murder of his father and mother.

Police have arrested Nick Reiner, the son of Rob Reiner, on a charge of murder following the death of the acclaimed Hollywood director and his wife, Michele Singer.

Nick Reiner, a 32-year-old screenwriter and the middle child of Rob Reiner and Singer, was taken into custody on Sunday, Dec. 14, and booked on Monday, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department records reviewed by USA TODAY. He is being held on $4 million bail.

...

Reiner has been the most forward-facing of the Reiner siblings. The writer has opened up extensively about his battles with drug addiction as well as homelessness, telling People in a 2016 interview that his struggles began as a teen.

He told the magazine he made his first visit to rehab at 15, and would return 17 times. His 2015 film "Being Charlie," which he cowrote, is loosely based on the experience. His dad directed the film.

JUST IN: Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were reportedly kiIIed by their son Nick Reiner.

I didn’t care for his politics, but this is a terrible tragedy and he didn’t deserve that.

See? That’s not so hard to say, Democrats.pic.twitter.com/TO0J5NVsD3

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) December 15, 2025

Trump unfortunately posted on social media, which is always an adventure, and often a bad one. Trump essentially claimed that Rob Reiner's "Trump Derangement System" infected people around him and caused his own murder.

This is very, very similar to deranged left-wingers claiming that Charlie Kirk essentially murdered himself by supporting gun rights, or by pumping "hate" out into the world. Amanda Seyfried -- a fading actress who will fade still more -- made that claim.

Hollywood actress Amanda Seyfried has decided to make the stunning and brave choice of weighing in on Charlie Kirk’s assassination by essentially saying he was asking for it.

Do not watch any movie she’s in. Give her the Stephen King treatment. pic.twitter.com/gGhtv29wrY

— Santron (@jacktronprime) September 17, 2025

Of course this froggy little whore is refusing to retract or apologize for that nasty statement.

Amanda Seyfried is "not f--king apologizing" for her comments on Charlie Kirk after his shocking murder.

"I mean, for f--ks sake, I commented on one thing. I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes," Seyfried, 40, told Who What Wear in an interview published on Wednesday.

"What I said was pretty damn factual, and I'm free to have an opinion, of course."

Yes, one can offer a defense of Trump that the left has been doing this for three months with Charlie Kirk. But... in that case, what are we complaining about ourselves? If we support this kind of thing, then we can really have no objection to Amanda Seyfried or a hundred thousand other poisonous leftist murder cultists.

It sure would be nice if Trump would think once and a while instead of immediately jumping on Truth Social to show his ass.

For his part, despite how wretched Rob Reiner's politics are, and his Trump derangement (yes, he was in fact Trump deranged and I think he even conceded as much), he did not descend to Seyfried's level after Kirk's murder.

I disagreed with nearly everything Rob Reiner believed politically, but I won’t celebrate his death.

His thoughts on Charlie Kirk were heartfelt and caring.
pic.twitter.com/8ANEnKS1Y6

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) December 15, 2025

Obviously, this view was not universally shared on the left:

Worth noting 🚨

Even though the 77.3M Americans who voted for Trump, didn't care for the way Rob Reiner talked about Trump on X

One thing you won't see us doing is, celebrating the way he and his wife were murdered by their own son, like Lucy Martinez did about Charlie Kirk pic.twitter.com/C4ErQNT0pN

— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) December 15, 2025

Very different responses to the death of people that some have disagreements with… pic.twitter.com/WHttTG18mk

— Caleb Hammer (@sircalebhammer) December 15, 2025

What a terrible weekend.

Close it up

THE MORNING RANT: “Financialization of All the Things” is Parasitism, not Capitalism

—Buck Throckmorton

Friend-of-the-blog Alexandria Brown offered up a recent X/tweet addressing the financialization of, well, everything in business and commerce, and how it should be viewed in relation to the ideal of capitalism. Specifically, Alex wrote: ”Here's a fun question to which I have not made up my mind even a little bit: is the financialization of All The Things a form of capitalism which is at least tolerable or is it so reductive of human life and endeavors as to be past a limitation on acceptable commercial behavior?”

Those of us who advocate for free markets understand that capitalism also presents an opportunity for bad actors to misbehave within the system. Be it 20th century snake oil salesmen peddling patent medicines, or 21st century Wall Street investment bankers selling pools of subprime mortgages as high-quality securities, there have always been bad actors exploiting the opportunities within a free market.

But just because we conservatives endorse capitalism doesn’t mean we must endorse – or even tolerate - the worst practices that occur therein.

In my opinion, the “financialization-of-all-the-things” is a form of parasitism that does not create wealth, rather it serves to extract the accumulated wealth from entities where wealth has previously been created. Those engaging in “financialism” are the corporate world’s version of tapeworms and ticks.

If you have been reading my essays on corporations treating employees as a pestilence and customers as prey, I am unambiguous in my revulsion at the management strategy of using financial manipulations to provide short-term gains, irrespective of long-term damage to the enterprise.

In one recent piece I discussed the mess MGM Resorts and Panera Bread have found themselves in, with both having to apologize for bad corporate behavior. They are now trying to win back disaffected customers after employing the modern management gimmicks of:

• Revenue-mining customers with new and outrageous charges that produced a short-term boost in sales.
• Slashing headcount and customer service to reduce labor expense, giving a short-term boost to operating profit.
• Cheapening their product with reductions in quality and/or size, producing a short-term boost in gross profit.

But in every case, these actions tell customers that rather than being valued, the corporation sees customers as marks to be exploited. A great many customers may get hoodwinked once, providing the short-term profit boost that was being sought, but then never come back, thus destroying the company’s long-term prospects. A downward spiral of alienated customers, declining revenue, deteriorating facilities, and degraded reputation ensues.

These business practices were parasitic. The future cash flow of the loyal customers of MGM and Panera were represented in how those businesses were valued, be it the goodwill asset on the balance sheet or the market capitalization of the stock. But the fallout from those practices devalued the worth of MGM and Panera. When the dust settled from all the financial gimmickry and lost customers, the end result was little different than if those companies’ executives had simply pulled equity out of their companies.

Another recent essay of mine, “Sherwin Williams Eliminates 401k Match Amidst Stock Buybacks and Increased CEO Compensation,” discussed an even more stark example of how financialization is a form of parasitism. To conserve $165 million in cash, Sherwin Williams suspended its 401(k) match for employees, but this was right as it was also flushing away about $900 million in cash for stock buybacks, for the purpose of propping up the stock price. Coincidentally, much of the compensation of Sherwin executives is based on stock price and in the form of stock bonuses.

A stock repurchase is a very simple act of distributing the existing wealth of a corporation. Cash is depleted to buy back stock, and the company’s capitalization decreases accordingly. The money might otherwise be used for capital improvements, debt reduction, etc., but Sherwin executives decided to use the company’s capital to try to enrich themselves.

[Disclaimer - there are valid circumstances when it makes good sense for a cash-flush corporation to engage in stock buybacks, but a company that is eliminating its employees’ 401(k) match to conserve cash is not one of them.]

Sadly, the financial practices of executives at Sherwin Williams, Panera Bread, and MGM Resorts are not isolated. They are emblematic of a prevailing management philosophy that is being learned at elite business schools.

The world of private equity has even more abuses, with takeover targets such as Joann Fabrics getting loaded with debt to enrich their acquirers, with all the above-mentioned financial gimmickry then applied. This often leads to bankruptcy and dissolution of the company, as happened to Joann.

Companies will necessarily fail in the “creative destruction” of capitalism. But strip mining a company of its assets and loading it up with debt isn’t creative destruction, it’s parasitic destruction.

Those of us who support free market capitalism must not be afraid to condemn those who harm its reputation. Just as I can advocate for hunting while simultaneously condemning poachers, I can also advocate for capitalism while condemning those who enrich themselves by engaging in parasitic “financialism.”

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]